As John Chambers stepped aside from his role as Cisco CEO on July 26, renowned leaders such as President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell weighed in on Chambers' legacy in a video created by Cisco.

Cisco's new CEO, Chuck Robbins, continues the networking giant's cloud and digital commitment with the hiring of industry veterans Zorawar Biri Singh as its new CTO and Kevin Bandy as its new chief digital officer.

As the convergence of telecom and IT reaches new – and lucrative – heights, CRN's 2015 Network Connectivity Partner Program Guide highlights the companies offering telecom, cloud and connectivity offerings and emphasize working with partners.

Among the crop of young companies making this year's CRN Emerging Vendors list, these stand out for their ground-breaking technologies, comprehensive channel efforts and potential impact on the industry.